MANY WAYS

Five kinds of quantum chip

Made in fabs Superconducting circuits, silicon spins, photonic chips.

Nature's qubits Trapped ions and neutral atoms.

All microfabricated Even atom and ion systems rely on fabricated chips and optics.

Explore each platform in 3D and click its parts.

CHIPS FROM FABS

Superconducting and silicon spin qubits

Superconducting Aluminium circuits with Josephson junctions, cooled to 10 mK. Fast, and the most mature.

Silicon spin Single electrons under nanoscale gates, made like transistors.

The bridge Both use the cleanroom tools from Sand to Chip.

Parts 3–6 dive into how these chips are designed and fabricated.

ATOMS AND IONS

Trapped ions Record gate accuracy, but slow gates and complex lasers.

Neutral atoms Hundreds of atoms in laser tweezers, rearranged on demand.

The chip side Trap chips, photonics and optics are all fabricated.

Perfectly identical qubits, held by microfabricated devices.

CHECK YOURSELF

Photonic Photons in waveguides, detected by superconducting nanowires.

Diamond Defects in diamond, great for sensing and networks.

Topological A promising but still unproven way to protect qubits.

Part 7 covers these platforms in depth.

WHICH WINS?

Speed vs accuracy Fast superconducting gates; very accurate ion gates.

Fabrication Spins and photonics reuse chip factories most directly.

Scale Atoms scale quickly today; everyone faces wiring and control limits.

Next, in Part 3: inside the superconducting qubit.

UNIT 14 STUDY COMPLETE

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You know the five main qubit platforms and the trade-offs between them.